


Patajhad

by AllegoriesInMediasRes



Series: Baahubali fics [13]
Category: Baahubali (Movies)
Genre: Four Seasons Meme, Gen, Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-27 08:11:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16215008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllegoriesInMediasRes/pseuds/AllegoriesInMediasRes
Summary: Sivagami and Avantika, for the Four Seasons meme.Title means “autumn”.





	Patajhad

**Author's Note:**

  * For [avani](https://archiveofourown.org/users/avani/gifts).



Sivagami

 **Spring**   
  
the circumstances of his/her birth | favorite (or least favorite) family member | **first word** | happiest birthday | genderswap au

Sivagami is a remarkably clingy child, always needing to be carried and petted when she is awake. “Up you go,” her mother murmurs fondly when Sivagami grasps at her ankle, and she scoops her daughter up. “Up! Up! Up!” her father roars as he tosses her into the air, and Sivagami shrieks with delight.

They are far less amused when they return to work, and Sivagami is now a little older and expected to take care of herself for a longer while. They are merchants, after all, not royalty, and cannot wait hand and foot on their child. They both heaves great sighs when Sivagami’s first word is a sharp “Up!”  
  
**Summer**   
  
fantasy | love language of choice | a pet or other animal companion | **the decoration of their bedroom** | fusion au

Her chambers have always been her own; she and Bijjala lay together often enough in the early years of her marriage, but it was perfunctory, a matter of duty, and he always left right after they were done. He has not set foot in them since before Bhalla was born, and that suits Sivagami just fine. Better for her chambers to be free of the reek of wine and his eternal whining.

Her rooms connect to the balcony that offers the grandest view of Mahishmati. When she stands at the parapet to take in the air, is not the magnificent mountains she focuses on, however, or the golden architecture, but the streets where ordinary citizens do business, the streets where she hails from.  
  
**Fall**   
  
the one person/cause/ideal they would sacrifice everything for | storms | **nightmare** | the lie(s) he/she has told | hero/villain reversal au

The news of Vikramadeva’s death comes the same day Bhalla is born. Sivagami is cocooned away, still sore from giving birth, but she hears of how Mekhala faints when she hears, how she herself nearly goes into labor right then and there. Even as Sivagami coos over her newborn son, grief knots in her stomach: both for Mekhala, and for Mahishmati.

Later that night, Sivagami is nursing Bhalla when Mekhala strides in, or waddles more like, given she is six months pregnant. “Nightmare,” is all she says in response to Sivagami’s questioning look. “May I hold him?”

Sivagami passes the tiny bundle over, keeping one hand on his head as Mekhala takes him into her arms. Her sister-in-law leans close, breathing in that newborn scent that Sivagami has already learned to cherish. When Mekhala looks up, her cheeks are hollow and her eyes underlined with dark circles, but the set of her chin is firm. “New life, even as old life goes,” she whispers, her voice hoarse with tears. “There is hope yet for us.”  
  
**Winter**   
  
haunting | tarot | then and now | **gods and mortals** | reincarnation au/historical era swap

Kattappa is a valuable soldier and an indispensable ally; in many ways, he could be called the closest thing she has to a friend. In the crucible of her tenure as Mahishmati’s regent, he is perhaps the only person who has never failed her. Yet even as she appreciates his service and depends on his loyalty, she knows it is better she does not cross that thin boundary between subject and friend, that he continue to revere the throne of Mahishmati the way a mortal does a god. On a personal level, the institution of slavery rankles for her, but Sivagami is practical enough to see the value of a person who will always, always, _always_ do what the throne commands, no matter what.

(The time will come when she rues that pragmatism, and wishes she had accepted Kattappa as a friend, and therefore given him the right to refuse her.)

* * *

Avantika

 **Spring**   
  
the circumstances of his/her birth | favorite (or least favorite) family member | first word | **happiest birthday** | genderswap au

There is no room for frivolity in the Kuntalan rebel camps, but Queen Sumitra has a soft heart, and makes sure that every child has a small celebration on their birthday. She gifts them a small but personal present and makes sure to talk with them, granting them lighthearted conversation that is so rare in the camps. The memories of Avantika’s birthdays blur into one another, but her fifteenth stands clearly out in her mind. Queen Sumitra had gifted her a new dagger, even as she shrank from violence, and praised her on how well she was coming along in training. What Avantika remembers most clearly, and what still makes her warm with pride years later, are the words, “If anyone can free Queen Devasena, it will be you.”  
****

**Summer**   
  
**fantasy** | love language of choice | a pet or other animal companion | the decoration of their bedroom | fusion au

She rarely dreams of love, except in her most unconscious fantasies, and as a result, she knows of it only in the most superficial and primitive terms.

Perhaps that is why when Shivu -- Mahendra -- kisses her, it does not quite feel _right_.

Perhaps that is why she feels relief more than anything when the two of them part their ways for good.

Perhaps that is why there is a knowing look in Queen Devasena’s eyes when she comments, “Love doesn’t always work according to contravention. Take your time, and you will soon discover.”

Perhaps that is why when Avantika tangles her fingers in long, thick hair and feels soft hands cupping the back of her head, it is as though all her fantasies are finally being realized.

**Fall**

the one person/cause/ideal they would sacrifice everything for | storms | nightmare | the lie(s) he/she has told | **hero/villain reversal au**

Even Father is somewhat taken aback by the intensity of Avantika’s quest to force the prisoner to repent her adultery and accept her King as her husband. “Enough that she rots out here in public, chained more by her own stubbornness than any corporal shackles,” he sneers.

But Avantika sees how her father looks at the prisoner, how she ignites something in him that leaves him desperate and longing, and knows that it is not enough. Maybe, just maybe, if Avantika is the one who can convince the wretched Devasena to set aside her obstinacy and return to the man she jilted so wrongfully, so long ago... then the hunger burning in Avantika’s own belly may be satiated, and her father will finally regard her as something other than a useless girl.

(Bhalla begins charging as soon as he sees Devasena’s head come over the horizon, and never sees that she swings the head of his only daughter.)

**Winter**

haunting | **tarot** | then and now | gods and mortals | reincarnation au/historical era swap

The trouble with dedicating your whole life to a single goal is that once you’ve reached it, what is left? Avantika realizes with some wonder that she has never really thought beyond what would happen once Queen Devasena was freed.

The woman she regards above all else smiles at her, her grin still radiant after twenty-five years of imprisonment. “I must admit I truly have no idea either.”

“Then we will simply have to make a future for ourselves,” Avantika says, with conviction.

**Author's Note:**

> Ending notes from original Tumblr tags:
> 
> #i decided to go with fan favorite mekhala for mama baahu #also i liked the idea that sivagami was very needy as a baby 
> 
> #i feel like even avantika raised by bhalla would be as tenacious and goal-driven #rather than just kicking the prisoner around like bhadra #for some reason it’s hard to find my avantika voice #so sorry if this comes off as a bit rote


End file.
